Package, packaging container, and blank therefor



.March 16,1943. E. M. BROGDEN 2,313,731

PACKAGES, PACKAGING CONTAINER, AND BLANKS THEREFOR Filed Nov. 12,- 1938SSheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOl Q.

' I Ernesi' golen 'BY 7 ATTORNEY E. M. BROGDEN 2,313,731

AND BLANKS THEREFOR 3 She ts-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 12, 1938 PT? A n a u m ma y n C V m @Q do m 4 0? 5 a L. A+TORNEY March 16,1943. E, M. BROGDEN2,313,731

PACKAGES, PACKAGING CONTAINERS, AND BLANKS THEREFOR I Filed Nov. 12,193B- 3 Sheets-Sheet} lNV ENTOR 46/ v 463 AATTORNEY Ern d es Eros 9nPatented Mar. 16, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PACKAGE, PACKAGINGCONTAINER, AND BLANK THEREFOR Application November 12, 1938, Serial No.240,166

- Claims.

This invention relates to packages, packaging containers and blankstherefor and is directed particularly to a construction of themerchandise.

display type which may readily be carried by the consumer and which maybe constructed from paperboard, boxboard, cardboard or other fibrousrelatively stiff foldable sheet material.

The general purpose of the invention is to provide an improved packagingconstruction which may be conveniently and economically manufactured,packed and handled and which is eificient and attractive in displayingto the consumer a plurality of articles of merchandise,

facilitating the purchase and transportation of with respect to thecontainer and to the contents The combination of all of these charthereof. acteristics is an important factor in commercial success.

A principal purpose of the invention is to provide a package, acontainer and a blank therefor which will conform to all of theserequire- A serious problem inthe development of a packaging constructionof this type isthe provision of a suitable handle arrangement. The

. handlemust not only be cheap to construct but must be capable ofready, rapid and positive attachment to the body of the container. Itmust be convenientand cemfortable to grasp,and sufliciently strong toWithstand excessivestrain andabuse; A feature of the invention is theprovision of a handleof this type which may be constructed frompaperboard or the like, and which may be readily attached to acontainer.

body of similar material. by a tongue. and slot connection. V i i Theprovision of a separate handle facilitates. theuse of differentmaterials for the handle and. the container body; and such materials maydiffer in' type, thickness, strength, grain or j other appropriatecharacteristics. Furthermore; the container body blank may be designedin -a more.compact form, providing economy in cutting and convenience inshipping.

The handle and the body are both preferably constructed from fibroussheet material having the requisite stiffness, tensile strength andflexibility, such as paperboard, boxboard, pasteboard and the like.Materials of this type generally have a definite grain extendinglengthwise of the fibers which are more or less aligned, and havegreater tensile strength in a direction parallel to the grain. However,such materials bend more readily and smoothly when the grain extendstransversely to the direction of curvature, since flexing in thedirection of the grain tends to produce uneven and unsightly seams inthe outer surface. An advantage of the invention in its preferredembodiment is the provision of a body structure in which the grain mayextend transversely to the engaging edges of the handlereceivingapertures, thereby providing maximum strength at the points mostsusceptible to rupture, while permitting the use of a handle in whichthe grain extends transversely, an arrangement that likewise strengthensthe engaging portion of the handle and facilitates smooth even bendingof such handle even when constructed of relatively thick fibrousmaterial. A specific purpose is to provide a novel handle which projectssufficiently from the package to permit ready grasping there of, butwhich may be collapsed to avoid interierence with packing or stacking ofthe package.

Another specific purpose is to provide a handle that is suitable for useon a package of bottles or the like having neck portions'projecting fromthe package, with the handle arranged to extendclear of the necks of thebottles when in operative position but readily collapsed intonon-projecting position. Another feature is to the series of sections insuch manner that when the package is lifted the tension exerted by theends of the handle will tend to compress.

themerchandise-engaging sections and to'hold the container securely inengagement With the merchandise; In aspecific embodiment of the improvedarrangement of the handle end connection whereby such endtion with theaccompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an assembled package embodying theinvention with the handle in collapsed position;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a blank for the body of.

the container employed in said package;

Fig. 3 is a similar View of a handle or end section blank for use withsaid body blank;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of an end of a similar'package showing anintegral end section and a separable end handle in carrying position;

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-section on line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. firis a perspective view of a modified form of package with alocking end section and a top handle;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a blank for the body of the container shown inFig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of a handle blank for use with said lattercontainer;

Fig. 9 is a perspective View of the container shown in Fig. 6 inassembled condition, showing the handle and'rubber bands in collapsedposi tion;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of another form of package provided with acircumferential retaining band construction and a modified handleconnection; 7

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary vertical section on line ll-ll of Fig. 10-showing the handle connection in cross-section;

Fig. 12 is a plan view of a blank for formin the container shown in Fig.10;

Fig. 13 is a plan View of a handle blank for use with the constructionshown in Figs. 10-12;

and

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a modified handleconnection.

The package consists in general of a container confining a plurality ofarticles of merchandise which preferably are of columnar form, such asbottles, cans or a plurality of pieces stacked in columnar form andconstituting a composite article for packaging purposes. The articlesare preferably arranged compactly in one or more rectilinear series withthe axes of the articles parallel to each other and the ends of thearticles in'general alignment, forming, a rectangular prismaticmerchandise group. 1

Thercontainer comprisesin general a series of four consecutive sectionsconnected to form a continuous tubular body adapted to engage fourconsecutive sides of the merchandise prism. These sides will be referredto herein as the top,

bottom and ends of the prism or merchandise group for convenience ofdescription; but although these terms have definite significance inconnection with'certain embodiments of. the invention, they are employedonly for descriptive purposes in' connection with the broader phasesthereof.

The body is proyided with a handle preferably formed of sheet materialand separably connected at its ends to the body by a tongue and slotconstruction. The handle is arranged in alignment with the series ofsections so that it tends to compress the tube when the package islifted by the handle. Said handle may constitute one of the sections ofthe body, or it may be additional to said sections.

In the illustrated embodiments the container comprises a body includinga bottom section 30, an end section 3! and a top section 32 preferablyformed integrally from a single sheet of material. These sections areprovided with means for engaging and retaining the merchandise at theside faces of the merchandise group located between the side margins ofthe sections 38 and 32 Such means preferably comprises flaps 33, 35,connected to the side margins of said sections 33, 32, together withmeans for maintaining the flaps in merchandise-engaging position. In theforms illustrated side flaps 33 are connected to the bottom section 33by parallel bending lines 34, and side flaps 35 are connected to topsection 32' by parallel bending lines 36.

The end section 3i is connected by a bending line 31 to the bottomsection 33, and by parallel bending line 38 to the top section 32. Thedepth of flaps 33. 35, in a direction parallel to lines 31, 38, isrestricted to provide an opening between said flaps at the sides of thepackage for exposure of the merchandise at said sides. For this purposethe depth of each of flaps 33', 35, is substantially less than half thedistance between lines 3?, 38, and preferably less than a quarter ofsaid distance. In merchandise packages of the usual type the depthofsaid flaps may advantageously be between one-half inch and one inch.

Flaps 33, 35, are preferably arranged with free ends unconnected to orout of contact with other portions of the container. For this purposeeach of said flaps is substantially shorter than the section 33 or 32,to which it is attached.

The bottom and top sections 35, 32, are likewise provided at their endswith means for engaging marginal portions of the merchandise group atthe ends of the package. Such means preferably consists of flaps 39connected by parallel bending lines 43 to the free ends of sections 30,32. End section 3i may be provided. as shown in Fig. 2, with more orless well defined end flap portions ll corresponding to fiaps 39 inarrangement and location and serving likewise to confine marginalportions of the merchandise group. The intermediate portion 42 ofsection 3| may be substantially narrower than end flap portions H. Flaps39 and flap portions 4! of section (it are likewise free from contact attheir ends with other parts of the container and preferably aresubstantially shorter in the direction of lines 37, 38; than thewidth'of sections 3!}, 32 in the direction of said latter lines.

A separate handle having detachable conriection with thebody of thecontainer is provided, and may be arranged and connected in variousways. In the embodimentillustrated in Figs. '-3, the handle extendsbetween. the free ends of sections 3%, 32 and in effect forms a secondendsection. In this arrangement the handle comprises a central shank orgrasping portion 46 and end portions 37; provided with slot-engag 7 ingmeans, such as aligned barbs d8 at opposite sides and a longitudinalcentral slit d9 extending a suflicient distance from the end of thehandle to permit overlapping of the portions of the han without bendingthe handle suflic'iently to injure the material of which it is composed.

The bottom and top sections 36, 32 are each provided with a cooperatingslot 56 preferably located adjacent a score line- 46 and having a widthcorresponding to the width of handle end portion 41 at the engagingsideof barbs 48.

The length of handle 45 between barbs 48 at opposite ends mayadvantageously be selected so that when handle 45 is in operativeposition as indicated in Fig. 1 it will hold adjacent ends of sections36, 32, in substantially the same spaced relationship as the oppositeends of said sections 36, 32 connected by end section 3|. Thisarrangement is illustrated in Fig. 1, and is especially suitable for thepackaging of generally cylindrical units, since the depression betweenadjacent units may be arranged directly beneath the handle to provideknuckle space even when the handle is sufficiently taut to maintain thenecessary spacing of'the top and bottom sections32, 36, when the handleis not in use.

As already set forth, the container is provided with meansforconfiningthe merchandise at the open sides off-the package, suchmeans:

preferably including flaps 33; 35, and means for yieldablymaintaining-said fiaps in merchandiseengaging position. In the preferredform such maintaining means consists of one or more resilient andpreferably elastic bands such as rubber bands 5| extending across bottomand top sections 36, 32, and flaps .33, 35, the bands preferably beingarranged at the sides of the container at right angles to the lines 34,36, defining the side edges of sections 36, 32.

The container is adapted for the packaging ofa variety of merchandisearticles or units, but is,

particularly suitable for use with units of substantially columnarcontour such as bottles, cans or stacks of symmetrical articles. InFigs; 1-9 the container is employed for packaging capsealed cans ofstandard type. i For use with such cans, or with other articles havingtapered or reduced neck portions such as bottles as illustrated in Figs.16-14, the top section 32 is provided with apertures 52 each arranged tofit snugly around a tapered portion of the neck 53 of a can 54, a bottleor the like. The body portions 55 of said cans or bottles, whichordinarily are of generally cylindrical contour, are snugly held betweenbottom and top sections 36; 32, and are arranged in juxtapositionto eachother, preferably in direct contact, to form a compact group.

The bottoms of the cans 54 or the like, as well asjtheir shoulders(upper rims at the base of their tapered portion), extend to bendinglines 34-46-34-'3| and 3646-36-38, respectively; the side portionsadjacent said bottoms being firmly engaged by flaps 33 and 39 and lowerflap portion 4|, while the side portions adjacent said shoulders aresimilarly engaged by flaps 35 and 39 and upper flap portion 4|. Theapertures 52 are sov proportioned and arranged that the. top sections 32bears on said shoulders, with both upper and lower flaps bent over inretaining position. Cutting off the corners of the top and bottomsections and the adjacent flap ends at an angle,

say to the margins of said sections, as indicated at 55, 5"! isadvantageous for several reasons. In the first place it improves theappearance of the container, providing a neat corner structure in whicheach corner edge proper, 56, is substantially flushwith the outer faceof the article (e. g., can55) at that corner of the while at the sametime providing strong and" positive retention of the corner articleslaterally. The slanting end 51 of each flap is a continuation of thecorner edge or line 56, the point 51a where line 56 intersects the outeror free edge of said flap being, most desirably, near the center line520 of the series of units extending across that end, or side, of thepackage; while the point 51b where line 56 intersects the inner orattached edge of the flap is beyond said center line, nearer the end (orside) of the package. This arrangement also supplements the actionexerted by the retaining flaps in maintaining the margins of the top andbottom sections 36, 32, in longitween corner edge 56 and the adjacentcorner aperture 52, free of the stifiening effect of the flaps, rendersthe container sufficiently flexible at the corners to permit readyinsertion or removal of the cans (e. g.) without damage to thecontainer. 7

In the forms illustrated in Figs. 4 and 6-12, the container is providedwith a second end section 66, which preferably is formed'from integralcontinuations of flaps 39 and which may be similar in formandarrangement to end section 3|. In this embodiment the top, bottom andend sections form a continuous tube, separate from the handle, whichtube may be constructed from a single sheet of material in the form of astrip and assembledby connecting the ends of the,

o'fend section 66 isformed asa continuation of a 'flap 39 and preferablyis narrower than said flap. [A preferred arrangement of the end sectionsfor use with columnar units employs end sections 3!, 66, having sideedges which do not,

extend substantially beyond the center of the merchandise units engagedby said end sections except in the flap zones adjacent the ends of said,sections, f

. In this embodiment the handle 45 may be sufficiently lcng to providethe clearance between the handle and end section 66 necessary for readygrasping of the handle. When not in use the handle may be collapsed bysliding one or both end portions 41, inwardly through slots. 56 so thatthe shank 46 of the handle rests in fiat position against end section66, facilitating compact stacking of the packages. When the container isused with cans or other articles of merchandise which have fiat urfacesbearing against the top and bottom of the container, the ends 41 of thehandle are designed and arranged so that the mechandise bears againstsuch ends, maintaining them in flat position against the top and bottomsec tions 32, 36, and thereby preventing a type of rupture which readilyoccurs with barbed handles In the.

made of boxboard or the like when the latter aredefiected from flatwiseposition. More specifical1y,, when the container is applied to cans, thehandle end portions 4'! and slots 5!] are designed and arranged so thatthe end portions 41 extend across the rims of adjacent cans and are heldbetween such rims and the top and bottom sections 32, 33. The pressureof the merchandise on the end portions of the handle is greatlyincreased when the package is lifted by the handle due to theconstricting effect of the handle pull on the tubular container body;and this construction therefore is most effective at the time whenfiatwise retention of the handle ends is most necessary.

In the modified embodiment illustrated in Figs. 6-9, a separableconnection between the overlapping portions Gla and 61b of the blankwhich form end section 60 is provided. While this connection in the formshown is of the double barb and slot type, the substantial width andrelatively short length of such portions present difficulties incontracting the barbed end of. a porfion to permit insertion in a slotin the other portion without permanently distorting or rupturng thematerial. An improved construction to avoid this difliculty has beenprovided. In the form illustrated, the upper portion Bla of end section66- is provided with lateral notches 62' forming barbs 63 at oppositesides of said portion. A compressing notch 64 extends from. the outerend of portion 6 la for a substantial distance longitudinally along saidportion and is sufficiently wide at its outer end so that when the edgesof the notch are brought together the barb 63 may be inserted in a slot65 formed in the lower portion Gib of the end section 60. With thisconstruction the portion Gla is not substantially distorted at any pointwhen the edges of notch 64 are brought together, which may beaccomplished by a gradual bending of the material at either side ofnotch 64 in a direction extending.

in general diagonally from the upper outer corners of said portion Glato the notch. Notch 64 preferably is .V-shaped, though other contoursmay be employed.

The outer margins of portions Bla and fill) preferably are arranged andaligned to form continuous margins of the end section 60 when saidportions are in engagement with each other. Where the. container isapplied to columnar articles the width of end section 63 (and of endsection 3! may be designed so that the edges of the portion midwaybetween top and bottom sections 32, 30, is in alignment with the centersof the articles engaged by said end section, and the side edges of thesection may extend outwardly from such central portion to the points ofjunction with said top and bottom sections, which points are preferablybeyond the center lines of In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 6-9,the handle 45a, which is similar in construction to handle 45, extendsacross thetop of the package and its ends engage slots 5% in endsections 3|, 55, adjacent lines 38, 40, at the ends of top section'32.Handle 45a is suificiently long to provide the necessary knuckle'spacebetween the handle and adjacent portions of the package, such as the topsection 32 or the neck portions 53 of merchandise articles, to permitconvenient grasping of the handle when in outer or carrying position.The handle may be collapsed between such neck portions or against thetop section 32 by sliding the ends of the handle downwardly in slots53a,

the shank portion of the handle being'suitably contoured for locationbetween the necks 53 when the container is used with bottles, cap-sealedcans or the like. The ends of handle 45a, preferably are likewisearranged for engagement by the merchandise to hold said ends in fiatposition against the ends of the container in the manner and for thepurposes already set forth.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 10-13, wherein the end section 60 isformed by the overlapped ends of sections Bic and Bid suitably securedtogether as by gluing, the merchandise is retained by circumferentialband means passing across the end sections and bearing against; themerchandise at the sides of the container. The band means may be made ofvarious materials and arranged in different ways. In the formillustrated, one or more rubber bands 5| a are employed. The lower bandextends across the end sections 3|, 60, and lengthwise along the flaps33 to hold the latter in merchandise-engaging position. The ends offlaps33 may be provided with notches 6! holding the band in registeredposition, or with other band-engaging or registering means. Theside'edges of end sections 3|, 66, may be similarly provided withnotches 68 or other means for holding the band; and the marginalportions of the end sections adjacent the latter notches may project asufficient distance beyond the contacting portion of such sections withthe contiguous merchandise to provide wings 69 which may be deflectedinwardly by-the band to provide a neat rounded appearance and improvedretention of the merchandise. If desired, wings 69 may be defined bygenerally vertical bending lines 10;

.. While a single band, and particularly a band confining the lowerportionsof the merchandise group, will be adequate for many types ofpackage, said group may be constricted in similar manner by a bandstructure adjacent the upper portion of the package body. The method ofconstruction andv arrangement will be apparent, including notches 61aorother band-retaining means in flaps 35, and notches 68a or the like inthe side margins of end sections 3|, 60, which margins may likewise bedeflected inwardly by the band and may de definedby generallyverticalscore lines 10a (Fig. 10 to form upper wingsv In this embodiment thehandle 45b is somewhat similar in construction and'arrangement to handle45a but is provided at each end with two additional transversely alignedbarbs 48a engaging the upper wall of slot 50, barbs 48 engaging theupper wall of a second slot 590 located substantially below slot in endwall 69. The container is preferably provided likewise with a third slot501) located above slot 59 and thehandle end may be inserted inwardlythrough slot 591), thence outwardly through slot. 50 and then in-.

* wardly through slot,5ilc, as indicated in Fig. 11;

In this arrangement the marginal end portions of the top section 32which are deflected downwardly in use may be separated from the centralportion of said section by score lines 38a, 45a,

to provide downwardly sloping segments 66 inwhich the upper slot 59b maybe located' This construction isgespecially adapted for use with bottlesor other merchandise units having sloping portions adjacent the marginsof the top section 32. Where the units have square edges adjacent themargins of the top section, the marginal portion of the top, will notordinarily be defined by score lines, and the upper slot 5%may'bepositioned either in the top section or in the end section.

It is preferable to proportion the width of the handle at slot 50brelative to the position of adjacent portions of merchandise units sothat such handle may be deflected inwardly to some extent when in usewithout exposure to a rupturing stress by engagement with marginalportions of the merchandise units. Specifically, when the units aregenerally round in horizontal section in the neighborhood of said slot50b, it is desirable to design the inward slope of the handle and itswidth at this point with relation to the contour of the adjacentmerchandise units so that it will not bear excessively against the upperedges of such units.

"The grip 46b of the handle 45b embodies provision for reinforcing thehandle and more comfortably accommodating the hand of the user. Thisprovision includes integral flanges 46! which may be folded inwardlyalong bending lines 462 to lie flat over the top of the handle when inuse. Each of these flanges may desirably have a transverse widthapproximately equal to half the width of the handle, so that the outermargins thereof abut each other and form a neat upper facing for thehandle shank, as shown in Fig. 10. Transverse bending lines 463 may beprovidedbetween said bending lines 462 in order to ensure uniformbending of the handle and a smooth sightly surface appearance thereof.The end-portions 464 of the flanges may be tapered to provide a gradualchange in stiffness of the handle at these points.

A container of the type shown in Figs. -13 maybe completely assembledand shipped in knockdown form by providing transverse bending lines 1|located centrally between the ends of the end sections 3 I, 60,permitting shipment with the top and bottom sections resting againsteach other. This arrangement likewise facilitates movement of the handle45b between collapsed and carrying positions, since the handle endscanbe' slid downwardly in their respective slots until barbs 48a contactslot 5011, the distance between slots 50 and 50a being designed withrelationto the depth of barbs 48a to provide sufficient movement ofhandle 45b so that the handle may be located beneath the upper ends ofthe necks 53 'of bottles or other merchandise units, or adjacent theface of top section 32 when the package is not employed for projectingunits, to permit stacking of the packages.

I Amodification of the handle end construction of Figs. 10-13 isindicated in Fig. 14, and is characterized by the omission of barbs 48a.It 1ncludes a handle structuresubstantially the same v as that shown inFig. 8 in combination with the plurality of slits shown in Figs. 10-12.This arrangement substantially facilitates the insertion of thehandleend and does not limit the extent to which such end may b pusheddownwardly through the slots to collapse the handle. At the saline timeit has been found in practice that the frictional engagement of i thehandle with the container body in this construction, as well as theelimination of sidewise movement that would throwthe strain on a singlebarb, provides a separable: connection that is substantially strongerthan the arrangement disclosed in Figs. 1-9.

The arrangements described and illustrated are suitable for rapid andconvenient formation of the blanks from sheet material by stamping, and.the containers are readily assembled and packed.

The forms illustrated in Fig. 1 may be packed moist conditions or thelike.

by placing the merchandise on the bottom section, folding the end andtop sections around the merchandise and inserting the handle inapertures 50,- though one end of the handle may be inserted in the blankbefore packing. The bands 5| are then snapped around the package. Asimilar procedure may be employed with the construction illustrated inFig. 6, the handle being preferably inserted in the container beforepacking. In the remaining arrangements, and if desired in theconstructions of Figs. 1 and 6, the container may be assembled beforepacking, and is arranged so that the merchandise may be rapidly insertedthrough the open sides. Where the container is employed for packagingarticles having projecting portions such as cap-sealed cans or bottles,such projecting or neck portions may readily be inserted throughapertures 52 in top section 32 by inclining the tops of the cans orbottles inwardly. The flaps 33, 35, are automatically pulled into placeby the application of bands 5|. The packing operation may convenientlybe carried out in a suitable jig and has been shown to be exceptionallyrapid under operating conditions.

The blanks and handlesare arranged so that they may be readily stackedand shipped in fiat condition to the packaging plant either with thehandle separate or insertedand collapsed against the body sections inthe manner already indicated. The handles are readily stamped fromfibrous sheet material as set forth herein, and because of theirarrangement relative to the body sections in the assembled container, aswell as the positioning and construction of the engagements between thehandle ends and the body, the handle constructions disclosed herein havebeen shown to be amply strong for any'use to which they will besubjected in practice. All of the handle end constructions are capableof rapid and ready insertion in the body apertures, and provide apositive strong engagement, particularly when the handle ends aremaintained in fiat position by the merchandise. 7

The packages illustrated and described herein are compact and mayreadily be packed in contact with each other with a minimum increase inthe space required for the merchandise itself. The packages likewise mayreadily be stacked in tiers to any desired reasonable'height withoutunsteadines due to the container structure. This is particularlydesirable where bottles or capsealed cans are packaged, since it isdifiicult to provide for stacking such merchandise unless it issubstantially enclosed in rectangular prismatic packages. The open sidesof the types of container disclosed herein permit exceptional economy ofmaterial combined with a highly attractive display of the merchandise,and likewise facilitate the access of air around the articles forrefrigeration, the maintenance of dry or Moreover, the articles arerapidly and readily accessible to the consumer and may be removed andreplaced without destroying or even materially afiecting the efliciencyof the container in confining the remaining articles. This isparticularly advantageous where the container is employed forbottlessold on deposit and which can conveniently be replaced in thecontainer and returned as a unit without the usual difficulty inhandling a number of loose bottles.

While the invention has been illustrated in its preferred, embodimenttogether with a number of modifications thereof, it will be understoodthat many features may be further modified without departing from theinvention as set forth in the claims. For instance, while the specificembodiments have included bottles or cap-sealed cans, it is obvious thatthe invention is not restricted to merchandise of this type havingportions which project through the top. Other types of cans or othermerchandise can not only be packaged, but can be inserted through theopen sides of the container even more rapidly and conveniently thanbottles and the like.

The invention is particularly suitable for use with containers made ofrelatively stiff flexible 'foldable sheet material, as alreadyindicated, and has been designed so that such material maybe ofrelatively cheap grades without sacrificing the mechanical efficiency ofthe container. This is due partly to the fact that except at the pointsof handle engagement the stresses on the material are uniformly tensile,with a substantial absence of bending or distorting stresses exceptthose which are adequately supported by the merchandise itself, the bodyand handle structure being designed with relation to the prismaticmerchandise group to produce such distribution and type of stresses.Since the stresses on various parts of the container structure will varywith different'types of merchandise having varying contours, weights anddegrees of yield or variation in shape, the material selected for thecontainer must obviously be selected for each particular type of use.The structure'is particularly designed, however, to facilitate theconstruction of the container body and of the handle from one of thewidevarietyof fiber sheet materials on the market, including notonly thoseknown as paperboard, boxboard, pasteboard, cardboard and even certaingrades known as paper, but also come posite sheets made up of a seriesof superposed sheets, such for instanceas paperboard having asurface ofkraft to'provide the requisite tough: ness,'or' sheets having asurfacing of finer pulp suitable for printing and the like.

The illustrated embodiments moreover include packages containing tworows of articles; but the invention is notintended to be restrictedthereby, since features set forth in the claims are equallyapplicabl'eto packages containing a smaller'or a" greater number of rows' of sucharticles, though'in' "general the container is primarily adapted forcon'fining 'a plurality of articles. Likewise; while the bottles andcans which con; stitute' the articles shown and described herein areunitary or monolithic, the invention is not restricted thereto, thoughthe container has certain special advantages when applied tomerchandi'se of this type. Such articles obviously may be formed of aplurality of similar piecesof, merchandise stacked on each other; andinits broader aspects the invention is not necessarily restricted tocolumnar articles.

The bending lines referred to herein may be of any desired type adaptedto facilitate accurate bending along the desired lines. They may includecreases in which the material is depressed at one side usually with acorresponding ridge on the other side, or scores in which the materialis partially out along the line, including cut scores in which the cutextends partially through the material at one side, and perforatedscores in which short spaced cuts extend through the material along theline.

I claim;

1. A merchandise display and carrying con-, tainer forconsumerpackagescomprising 'a body of sheet material having substantiallyrectangular top and bottom section and opposite end sec: tions connectedin series to form a tube having parallel open opposite sides the bodybeing provided with a handle extending substantially parallel. to thesides and separably connected at each end to the body; each of said topand bottom sections having merchandise-retaining portions extending fromthe side margins thereof and over said opposite sides for a distancesubstantially less than one-half the height of said sides, each of saidportions being unconnected to any part of the container other than theside margin from which it extends.

- 2. A merchandise display and carrying container for consumer packagescom-prising a body of sheet material having substantially rectangularintegral parallel top and bottom sectionsand opposite end sectionsconnected in series to form a rectangular prismatic tube with openopposite sides; an article-retaining 'fiap means extending from the sideedges of the top and bottom sections and over said opposite sides for adistance substantially lessthan one-half the height of said sides,eachof said flap means being unconnected to any part of the containerother thanthe side edge from which it extends; a handle of sheetmaterial extending substantially parallelto the sides and slidablyengaging apertures in ODPQsite sections, saidhandle being movablethroughat least one of said apertures between collapsed: positionadjacent the subjacent section and; carrying position substantiallyspaced from said latter section.

3. A container asset forth in claim 2 in which the top sectionisprovided with. apertures for projecting portions of merchandise units,the handle extending across the top into apertures in the opposite endsect-ionsandbeing located between the apertures in; the top sectionwhen; in collapsedv position.

4. A merchandise display and carrying con tainer for consumer packagescomprising a tubu lar body of sheet material havingopen, opposite sides;a circumferentially extending handle mountedon thebody and anelasticbandthreaded onthe handle and, arranged-to encirclethe body beneath thehandlewhenthebody is packed with merchandise.

5. A merchandise displayand carrying package comprising a generally,rectangular prismatic group of articles of merchandise and a containerconfining said group, the container including substantially rectangularparallel top, and bottom sections engaging the-top and bottom. of thegroup and opposite end sections engaging; the ends of the group,saidsectionsbeingconnected in serie to form a tube with parallelopenopposite sides, said top and bottom sections h-avingmerchandise-retaining portions; extendingfrom theside margins, thereofand over said; opposite sides 7 for a distance; substantially lessthannehalf theheight of said;si des,, each oi said;portions being O I BQ QQany flli i f. h .001 tainer other than the, sidemargin'fromwhich-itextends.

A m r and s d splay and' arr nepacka comprising a rectangular prismaticgroup of :a-rticles ofmerchandiseand a container confining said group,the container including substantially e ta l r para l l o a d bot om;sectio sengaging p andbottom of. theeroun andiopr. posite end sectionsengagingjthe ends .ofthe. group, said sections. being connected iniseries; to form a tube with parallel open. opposite sides, and

retaining means confining and simultaneously exposing the merchandise atsaid sides, one of said end sections constituting a handle, and thearticles of merchandise adjacent the handle being of rounded columnarform with the depression between adjacent units located beneath thehandle and providing space for knuckles of a hand grasping the handle.

7. A package as set forth in claim 5 in which the top section isprovided with a series of apertures and the merchandise comprises aplurality of columnar articles having portions projecting through saidapertures, and a handle extends in alignment with a space betweenadjacent series of said projecting portions and is collapsible intoposition between said projecting portions.

8. A package as set forth in claim 6 in which the retaining means at thesides of the package comprises flaps extending partially acros saidsides from opposite margins of one of the top and bottom sections and acircumferential retaining band extending across the ends of the body andlongitudinally across said flaps.

9. A blank for a merchandise display and carrying container formedintegrally from relatively stiff foldable fibrous sheet material, andcomprising a substantially rectangular bottom section, a substantiallyrectangular top section and an intermediate end section connected to thetop and bottom sections along parallel bending lines, the end sectionbeing narrower transversely of the blank than the top and bottomsections, said top and bottom sections each being provided with ahandle-engaging aperture adjacent the margin opposite to the endsection.

10. A merchandise display and carrying package comprising a generallyrectangular prismatic group of articles of merchandise and a containerconfining said group, the container including substantially rectangularparallel top and bottom sections engaging the top and bottom of thegroup and opposite end sections engaging the ends of the group, saidsections being connected in series to form a tube with parallel openopposite sides, said top and bottom sections havingmerchandise-retaining portions extending from the side margins thereofand over said opposite sides for a distance substantially less thanonehalf the height of said sides, each of said portions beingunconnected to any part of the container other than the side margin fromwhich it extends; one of said sections being arranged to separablyconnect the top and bottom sections and being formed to provide handlemeans by which the package may be carried.

ERNEST M. BROGDEN.

